AJ Lizama smashes 20 to win HR derby

Budweiser King of the Diamond Labor Day Softball Tournament homerun derby champion A.J. Lizama with Roil Soil Marketing’s Shayne Villanueva. (Contributed photo)

A.J. Lizama won the homerun derby of the Budweiser King of the Diamond Labor Day Softball Tournament last Sunday at the Capitol Hill Ballfield.

He beat out runner-up Reid Teregeyo and third place Rob Tudela after going yard 20 times in the competition. Lizama started out on fire, going the distance an amazing nine out of 10 times in the first round. He cooled down a bit in the second round going five out of 10 before reigniting with a 7-out-of-10 performance in the third and final round.

For topping the homerun derby, Lizama took home $170 in cash plus a Budweiser anarchy bat and a cooler bag.

“Nothing much to say… I just came out to perform what I do best. I just stayed calm and let my bat do the work,” said the 25-year-old Commonwealth Utilities Corp. employee.

Teregeyo settled for second place after he totaled 16 homeruns. He started off going seven out of 10 in the first round before going yard five times in 10 attempts in the second. Teregeyo struggled in the finale though, going four out of 10.

Tudela finished with 13 homeruns after smacking five in the first round, another five in the second, and then slowed down a bit in the third with just three moon balls.

In the cornhole tournament, Ikluk Masayos and Patrick Deleon Guerrero lorded it over everyone and took home a Bud Light Seltzer board and a Budweiser prize package worth $220.

Budweiser King of the Diamond Labor Day Softball Tournament cornhole tournament winners Ikluk Masayos and Patrick Deleon Guerrero with Roil Soil Marketing’s Shayne Villanueva. (Contributed photo)

Second place went to Brad Lieto and Denny Jepen. They won $140 plus a Bud Light Seltzer package, while Russel Hocog and Juan Diaz wound up third and got a Bud Light Seltzer package.

In the tournament proper held earlier Sunday, Kliq extinguished the twice-to-beat advantage of erstwhile undefeated Klal Boys to the win the championship. Kliq earned $1,000 plus a set of 12 uniforms. Runner-up Klal Boys settled for $750, while third place Alapatiw Alongaal got $500 for third place. Pues OK 4Nate pocketed $350 for taking fourth place.

The Budweiser King of the Diamond Labor Day Softball Tournament was organized by Roil Soil Marketing and aside from the title sponsor, other companies that supported the competition are AllStar Sporting Goods, Saipan Select, Power 99, and Marianas Variety.

Roil Soil Marketing’s Shayne Villanueva congratulated the winners and thanked all the teams and players, sponsors, and volunteers for the successful staging of the Budweiser King of the Diamond Labor Day Softball Tournament.

“We are happy that we chose to put on Budweiser’s King of the Diamond Tournament. It was great to see all the players and teams bring out their best performances all the way down to the very last out. We appreciate all the fans who came out to support and also followed us on our live stream. We definitely couldn’t do this without the help of our sponsors, our grounds crew, our stats guys and umpires. We are grateful for everyone’s help,” he said.